Putting is very important in the game of golf. On a par-72 course, one-half (36) strokes are allotted for putting. Moreover, it does not take great strength or physical ability to be a good putter. For a golfer, one stroke on a green counts just as much as any other stroke in the course.
There are two kinds of putting--long putts and short putts. A long putt may be defined as any putting requiring more than five feet to reach the cup. If the ball lies within about five feet of the hole, it is a short putt. The primary objective of the long putting is to hit the ball so that it ends within approximately three feet of the hole. Although sinking the ball in a long put is pleasant and desirable, the primary goal on long putts should be placing the ball near enough of the hole so that the next stroke will easily make the hole. In addition, for the long putts many variables such as the slope of the ground, the accuracy of the aim, the length to be traveled, and speed of the ball comes into play. The accuracy of the aim, although critically important, only play a minor role in the overall success of the long putting. On the other hand, the accuracy is the most important factor in short putting. Other variables such as the slope of the ground, speed of the ball, and texture of the turf become less important.
A short putt is very important in a game of golf not only because a missed putt will cost a stroke, but the impact it has psychologically to a player. Because of its length, every golfer, pros and amateurs alike, feels compelled to make it. When he does not make it, he thinks he missed an easy shot. Consequently, it tends to destroy a player's confidence and may affect his concentration for rest of the game.
In a putting situation, the direction of the putt is dictated by the path of the clubhead and the face angle at impact. The path is important and affects direction, but the face angle of the putter at impact is also very important in determining direction. Providing the green within five feet of the hole has no significant slope and texture of the turf is uniform, successful short putting should require the path of the clubhead directly aimed to center of the hole, and club face angle precisely perpendicular to the line between clubhead and the hole. In addition, the center of the ball should be precisely aligned with the marker on top of the putter that generally indicates location of the center of gravity in the toe to heel direction. An infinitesimal deviation from these is the reason for a miss of the short putt. To miss the hole that is four inches wide, from five feet distance the deviation of a face angle from perpendicular to the straight line to the hole must be so small it will not be discernable to the naked eyes. Every player carefully adjusts the face angle of the putter and aligns the ball to the center of gravity marker before he strokes the ball. Nevertheless, a putt is missed because the face of the putter is not truly perpendicular to the direction of the hole, and the ball is off the center of gravity. To achieve a perfect alignment every time, a finely adjusted machine tool is needed. Since hand and eye coordination of a human being is much less precise than a machine, a mistake will occur and a missed putt is the result. The present invention is directed to reducing the small inaccuracies that occur with the prior art putters and automatically compensating for mis-struck putts.